Inorganics (Jun 2024)

Synthesis of TiO<sub>2</sub>/SBA-15 Nanocomposites by Hydrolysis of Organometallic Ti Precursors for Photocatalytic NO Abatement

  • Ons El Atti,
  • Julie Hot,
  • Katia Fajerwerg,
  • Christian Lorber,
  • Bénédicte Lebeau,
  • Andrey Ryzhikov,
  • Myrtil Kahn,
  • Vincent Collière,
  • Yannick Coppel,
  • Nicolas Ratel-Ramond,
  • Philippe Ménini,
  • Pierre Fau

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/inorganics12070183
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 12, no. 7
p. 183

Abstract

Read online

The development of advanced photocatalysts for air pollution removal is essential to improve indoor air quality. TiO2/mesoporous silica SBA-15 nanocomposites were synthesized using an organometallic decoration method, which leverages the high reactivity of Ti precursors to be hydrolyzed on the surface water groups of silica supports. Both lab-made Ti(III) amidinate and commercial Ti(IV) amino precursors were utilized to react with water-rich SBA-15, obtained through a hydration process. The hydrated SBA-15 and the TiO2/SBA-15 nanocomposites were characterized using TGA, FTIR, 1H and 29Si NMR, TEM, SEM, N2 physisorption, XRD, and WAXS. This one-step TiO2 decoration method achieved a loading of up to 51.5 wt.% of approximately 9 nm anatase particles on the SBA-15 surface. This structuring provided excellent accessibility of TiO2 particles for photocatalytic applications under pollutant gas and UV-A light exposure. The combination with the high specific surface area of SBA-15 resulted in the efficient degradation of 400 ppb of NO pollutant gas. Due to synergistic effects, the best nanocomposite in this study demonstrated a NO abatement performance of 4.0% per used mg of TiO2, which is 40% more efficient than the reference photocatalytic material TiO2 P-25.

Keywords